by Dr. Judyth Reichenberg-Ullman and Dr. Robert Ullman

How Homeopathy Can Benefit Youngsters With Learning Disabilities

Whether your child exhibits delays in reading, math, spelling or writing, dyslexia, retention or comprehension of material, or is simply a slow learner, read on. If you take your child to a homeopath, not only will these specific areas of concern be addressed, but your child will be assessed and appreciated as a whole person. He may suffer from as or headaches or allergies in addition to experiencing learning challenges. The beauty of homeopathy is that all of these concerns will be addressed at the same time by a single homeopathic medicine. Within weeks or a couple of months of finding the right homeopathic medicine, you will notice concrete changes in your child such as the following:

• Grades should improve significantly.
• You child will report more ease and less frustration with learning. She will no longer feel that school and homework are a struggle.
• The teacher(s) will notice a distinct change in your child’s learning skills.
• Behavior, often exacerbated by a child’s frustration with learning, will improve markedly.
• Handwriting typically becomes more legible;
• Children often spontaneously begin to enjoy reading and other subjects that were previously drudgery.
• Friendships often blossom as a child develops more confidence and self-assuredness.
• Maturity can increase much more rapidly than before.

In my clinical experience, these are changes that begin to occur within one to four weeks after the correct homeopathic medicine is given. The improvement continues and builds over time. One of my greatest joys is to hear that a child who was previously in a special classroom or school has, as a result of homeopathy, become mainstreamed. Or to hear a child tell me in her own words how much easier school is and, as a result, how much happier she feels. Even for children with more severe delays such as Asperger’s Syndrome, autism, or developmental delays, improvement is often possible.

The Most Common Homeopathic Medicines for Learning Disabilities

Your child might need any homeopathic medicine under the sun or, for that matter, under the ground. Perhaps a medicine made from a mineral salt or a flower or the milk of a mammal. The specific symptom pattern will indicate which of the many possible medicines best matches your child.

The three medicines I mention here are the absolutely most common- those that I prescribe extremely often. Be aware that learning disabilities is a chronic rather than an acute problem. It is part of your child’s ongoing symptom picture and not a condition that you should treat yourself. Put your child’s homeopathic care in the hands of an experienced practitioner who can take an objective view and offer your child the best possible chance of success.

The Barytas

Medicines from the barium family, of which the best known is Baryta carbonica, can make a tremendous difference in a child’s learning. These youngsters are typically:

• Shy raising their hands in class for fear of giving the wrong answer and making a fool of themselves;
• Self-conscious about their intelligence as well as their social skills;
• A bit awkward, which may lead to ostracism by other children;
• Delayed in walking, talking, speaking and other developmental milestones;
• Less mature than their peers;
• Challenged with grade-level materials and may need to be held back, if it is significant;
• Slow-paced;
• These are sweet kids who usually are not the ones with behavioral problems

The Calcareas

Calcarea carbonica (Calcium carbonate): The medicine that you think of first for blonde, chipmunk-cheeked, chubby babies, can be an excellent medicine for learning disabilities. The features that point most to this medicine are:

• Kids who are slow-paced and often the last to finish exams or schoolwork or to get ready to leave the house;
• Cautious in general after trying physically adventurous activities;
• Kind, caring kids whose most challenging temperamental features are obstinacy and dawdling;
• These children are well-intentioned and sincere about learning but they just can’t keep up the pace;
• Couch potatoes who would rather not push themselves into vigorous physical challenges (although I have seen athletic kids who have needed this medicine);
• Fear of heights, dogs, bugs, and ghosts;
• They love cheese!

Second most common among the calcium group is Calcarea phosphorica (calcium phosphate)..Although these kids have many shared features with the previous medicine, there are some clearly distinguishing characteristics:

• They tend to be much more athletic and often excel in a number of sports;
• Fractures are common;
• These kids often complain of growing pains;
• Also common is knee pain due to Osgood-Schlatter’s disease;
• “Frustrated” is the word these youngsters typically use to describe their ability to perform in school;
• School headaches and stomach aches are another pointer to this medicine;
• They enjoy a particular fondness for smoked meat such as bacon or pepperoni pizza.

Jake’s Very Bright, But He’s in a Special Education Class

Jake was seven years old and lived in New Mexico, so I treated him by phone. He is a child who needed a variation on the medicines mentioned above. Like many of the children in my practice, he has been given more than one conventional diagnosis- in Jake’s case leaning disabilities and attention deficit/herperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Jake’s mother gave me the following information: “Jake was diagnosed with ADHD by four different physicians at age four. On a scale of one to ten regarding hyperactivity, he’s a nine. He’s very hyperactive, verbal, and boisterous. He’s disobedient if he doesn’t get his own way. He hits himself. Jake takes his fist and hits both sides of his head out out frustration. He yells, hollers , and becomes frustrated very easily. Then he’ll scatter his Legos and flail his hands.”

“He becomes extremely frustrated when he tries to do his schoolwork or he plays complicated block games. He’s good at memorizing and is very bright, but he’s in a special education class. He has one on one attention from the teacher. He’s in first grade, but he tested at kindergarten level. Jake has trouble putting things on paper. He doesn’t get his work done, doesn’t pay attention, and becomes easily distracted. He’s far behind; off there in the distance. Something’s missing. He’s not getting the whole instruction unless the teacher gives them step by step, one at a time. If you try to show him how to do something, all of a sudden he’s looking at something else. Maybe he even asks you about something else. It’s hard to get him to look and stay focused on one thing unless it’s absolutely what he wants to do.”

“He’s been on Ritalin since he was four. Without it he bounces off the walls. He wouldn’t even be able to look at his schoolwork. He’s very rude and disobedient. I tell him to do something and he starts yelling at me. Jake is very disrespectful towards me. He’s loud, focuses a lot of energy on guns and violence, and runs around incessantly claiming he stabbed his brother [not true].”

“Jake has some obsessive-compulsive habits. He licks his lips a lot and sucks his thumb. At the same time that he puts his thumb is his mouth, he plugs off one side of his nose and starts blowing. He does it all the time.”

“He’s very attached to his stuffed animals and has to sleep with them. He wants to take them in the car with him so they won’t have to stay home alone. Jake wants to make sure that all the car doors are locked so that no one will steal them and he does the same thing with his toys.”

“He’s shy and keeps to himself, preferring to observe rather than to get involved with games. Bashful until he gets to know you, Jake hasn’t grown as much as he should. His brother is four and I’m constantly asked if they’re twins because they’re the same size. His brother is at the ninety-fifth percentile of height and weight. Jake is at twenty percent. They wear the same size clothes. Jake is the smallest in his class even though he eats and eats. He tells me ‘I’m starving to death.’ Last night he ate three chicken legs, two salads, and noodles. He eats more than me. He used to be afraid of the dark and had some nightmares. He’d wake up crying and screaming and didn’t recognize me.”

We asked Jake’s mother about her pregnancy and labor.”I almost miscarried five times after the first trimester. I had Jake by Caesarean section one month early. He weighed under six pounds at birth and was very cold. I nursed him for six weeks, then lost my milk. He had ear infections starting at one year. The glands by his ears get swollen whenever he has a cold.”

I asked Jake’s mom what she thought was most unique about her son. She replied that it was how much he ate and that he was very smart in his head but couldn’t get it on paper. She told us that Jake’s father was just like Jake when he was a child. He, like his son, had been very active, was labelled as behind in school, and was very, busy. Jake did, he did really fast.

What I found to be most unusual was the combination of Jake’s shyness, failure to grow, difficulty staying focused, frustration when challenged by schoolwork, attachment to his stuffed animals, and swollen glands. The medicine I prescribed for Jake was Baryta iodatum (barium iodide),

Jake’s mother called two weeks after we sent him the medicine to report that he had begun to listen better to her and to tie his shoes. One month later, she told us, “Jake’s doing much better in school. He’s concentrating better. He’s down to 5 milligrams Ritalin a day. Sometimes I forget to give it to him now, though he can still get somewhat out of control. He can sit and concentrate now and can tie his shoes. We went shopping for shoes for Jake. He started to get excited, then sat back down like I asked. His teachers have noticed that his concentration and performance in school have improved. Jake’s taking more time with his work and doing better. He’s not as boisterous. He’s not hitting himself as often. He hasn’t had any dry spots on his lips from licking like he did before.”

“His academics are improving greatly. Before they had reduced his requirement to one new spelling word a week. Now he’s asking for more. He’s started to read. Before the medicine Jake was confused whether one was smaller than five. Now he’s counting to one hundred. Most of his papers are coming home completed. He started picking up hidden word puzzles since we gave him the medicine. He’s begun to be able to put words in alphabetical order.”

“Sucking his thumb is still a challenge. He’s not as fearful in general. He’s no longer worried about having to lock the car to protect his stuffed animals. And a wonderful surprise- Jake started to grow! After wearing a size five for the past year and a half, now he can’t fit into his jeans. He’s no longer complaining, ‘I’m starving to death.’ Nor is he picking at his fingers as much.”

“The pictures he’s drawing are getting better. You can recognize now what it’s supposed to be. He’s writing much better. Taking his time. He can concentrate now. The teacher wanted to know the name of what I gave him. It’s a miracle. The principal said, ‘You know, homeopathy’s been around for hundreds of years. More people should use it.”
Jake continued to do very well.

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